There are a lot of phrases and words that are often misused. One of those phrases concerns the response to the often-heard questions “How are you?” and “How are you feeling?”
This isn’t the most difficult usage to grasp. That designation belongs to lie versus lay, but good versus well runs a close second.
I go to therapy twice a week. Invariably, I need to sit in the waiting room, and it’s while I’m sitting there I often hear people’s responses to the questions “How are you?” and “How are you feeling?”
A few people respond with “Good, how are you?” But most say, “I’m doing well,” or “Well, thank you.”
Many of us grew up learning to respond that way, being taught that “well” was the preferred response because well is an adverb and good is an adjective. The problem is that the questions “How are you?” and “How are you feeling?” do not require an adverb as a response.
I’m not going to get technical here as I’ve said I wouldn’t do that. If you want technical reasons for why you need to use good or any adjective, for that matter, feel free to write to me. For this book, let’s restrict our answer to “plain English.”
Any of the “to be” verbs such as am, is, are, was, were, been, etc. as well as “sense” verbs, those verbs that describe the five senses—sight, hearing, feel, smell, and taste—require adjectives.
Let’s Look Closer at Sense Verbs
I’m going to list a few examples of statements or questions using sense verbs. And I’ll list them with both adjectives and adverbs.
✅ That lasagna smells delicious. (Adjective)
❌ That lasagna smells deliciously. (Adverb)
✅ The apple pie tastes wonderful. (Adjective)
❌The apple pie tastes wonderfully. (Adverb)
✅ That apple seems crisp. (Adjective)
❌That apple seems crisply. (Adverb)
✅ She looks amazing. (Adjective)
❌She looks amazingly. (Adverb)
✅ He said he feels great. (Adjective)
❌He said he feels greatly. (Adverb)
As you can see, the sentences marked with the “green check” use adjectives, and they sound right. The ones marked with the “red X” use adverbs and do not sound natural.
So yes, “How are you?” and “How are you feeling?” Require an adjective as an answer, not an adverb.
To Really Confuse You...